For lace though I have to go with The Wedding Ring Shawl from Heirloom Knitting http://www.heirloom-knitting.co.uk/projects16.html no wait I'll go with just about all of their patterns. I learned of these from Wendy Knits on a post she had on what she considered hard-now that was a while ago...

What do you think is the hardest, most insane, hair ripping, challenging thing out there to knit?

Lisa C in Tnhttp://knitternavywife.blogspot.com/Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body,but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting "Holy sh** - whata ride!"

ooops- the one thing Ann mentioned that inspired her post was aJade Starmore pattern called Katherine Howard, from the Starmores' Tudor Roses. Go here-http://www.knit-o-rama.com/knitlinks.html and scroll down to see it- gorgeous but Wow

Lisa C in Tnhttp://knitternavywife.blogspot.com/Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body,but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting "Holy sh** - whata ride!"

Good topic! For me, that has to be the Kaffe Fasset Pinwheel sweater. COTTON - imagine the ends and they dont stay stuck in. so many color changes. Made it halfway and had to take a 5 year break - not sure I'll finish.here's a pic: http://www.velona.com/items/501/K50166.html

Not citing a particular pattern or anything, but I think the most obnoxious thing to knit is a detailed intarsia design in cotton yarn. All those tangly bobbins (and ends to weave in)-- way too annoying!! I know there are "harder" things, but I can deal with complex as long as the knitting can progress relatively smoothly.

I'm with Amy--brings back memories of the Vogue World sweater, in Saucy cotton. The western hemisphere was bad enough, but by the time I got to the charts for Europe (lots of tiny, irregular intarsia shapes in all different colors--at least that's what I remember, it's a blur after all these years), I pronounced cotton intarsia one skill I wasn't interested in, and frogged the sweater and made striped sweaters for a long time with all the Saucy. Hadn't thought of this in years.

Hey Marie, I made that earth sweater too! I agree that intarsia is challenging, especially with cotton. For me the toughest sweater I did was intarsia, wool, and it featured a representation of a Van Gogh painting on the front chest. Must've had 30 colours at least and some rows had in the range of 14-17 colours. SO trying to keep the bulk down (on the worng side) and planning ahead to where a certain colour would be needed next -- that was all tough. It turned out gorgeous though. The painting is of portuguese fishing boats pulled up onto a beach.

I wish I had a photo of it. This was back in the day, well before digital cameras or even before I had a decent camera of any sort. I was in a remote bush camp and somehow quickly finished the only knitting that I had brought with me (poor planning I say!). Anyhow, I radio-phoned a friend who owned a yarn shop and told her of my predicament and she said "Have I got the project for you!" So it came in a box, and I really didn't know what I was getting into. It was a commission for a client of her's.

I withdraw my gripe in light of the details of your Van Gogh, sweater, Jan, and tip my needles to you. I think being in a remote bush camp would have been the only way I could have finished mine, although I admired it when I met a knitter wearing hers. Had I waited until the kit that came out in wool a short time later, I might have been more successful.

Intarsia. I don't care for the look of it or the technique, so while it isn't necessarily *hard*, I don't like doing it.

So far, all of my projects have been "the hardest thing ever" for me, but after I finish them, I always think "wow, that wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be!" I've yet to finish any lace in laceweight, though, so I guess that would be my vote.

Anything is only worth what one person is willing to pay for it and one person is willing to sell it for.Backstage Stitches

I haven't yet attempted entralac, intarsia or Fair Isle. I don't know if I would call lace done in laceweight my "hardest" thing to knit but I know that I have no desire to finish a stole that's sitting in my closet. Keeping track of all those yarn-over, double decreases, and single increases required total concentraton. And egads, you drop a stitch! I have yet to figure out how to make it right.

Lace, really, is easy on a stitch-to-stitch basis: one strand of yarn, one pair of needles, you just form each stitch and then the next.

With stranded colorwork, you're dealing with two strands, but otherwise it's just stitch, stitch, stitch. Easy.

With cables, you're dealing with groups of stitches at a time (in terms of the crosses). But, one strand, and the manipulation isnn't that tricky once you're used to it.

Intarsia--hmm. You're dealing with lots of strands, and you can't ignore the rest even thought you're only knitting with one at a time. Still, while it's certainly fiddly (ugh, bobbins) and, IMO, not worth the trouble, I think calling it "hard" is saying too much.

Let's see ... nope, can't think of anything. I guess I honestly think that knitting is just one stitch at a time (perhaps a few at a time for decreases and cables). It's as easy as you make it--or as hard.

What I find most difficult is the fitting of garments, yarn substitutions and knitting patterns such as intricate lace or intarsia that require intense concentration and intense attention to detail.

Last fall I spent two months knitting a pair of argyle socks which included 19 color changes across some rows. Still, it was just simple stockinette stitch with a little extra patience and attention to detail. What is difficult knitting for me is lace with 25-row repeats that are not easily memorized.

The thing I still find challenging is two-color knitting. I had a project where I had to do a small amount of it (nothing as complicated as fair isle, but a narrow two-color pattern on a sweater). I managed to muddle through it, but I found I had a horrible time attempting to hold the two colors in two hands.